3 Examples of great Valentine’s Day marketing campaigns

Although the weather is cold, our hearts are feeling toasty for Valentine’s Day! Valentine’s day is not just a day for lovers, but for friendships, family, and businesses that want to express how much they care about their customers.

Businesses have utilized Valentine’s day as part of their marketing strategy for years, and we’ve compiled some of our favourites throughout the years.

1. Canva: Valentine’s Day Giveaway

Love is in the air, so we're giving away $100 in Canva Credits to the most inspired Valentine's Day Card! ❤️ To…

Canva is an easy-to-use design platform used by more than 15 million people all over the world. Its drag-and-drop features and beautiful templates allow users at any level of design to create something special. Canva helps users make personalized cards for the special people in their life for occasions like Valentine’s Day. In 2017, Canva launched a Valentine’s Giveaway where users had to create a Valentine’s Day graphic using one of their templates, and share it onto social media with the hashtag #canvalove for a chance to win $100 in Canva Credit.

By holding a giveaway with simple guidelines, they were able to reach a large, global audience through user-generated content. The giveaway encouraged the use of their platform amongst existing customers and attracted new customers who were probably googling, ‘Original gifts for Valentindays day’. There are over 24,000 posts on Instagram with the hashtag #canvalove, making their campaign a major success.

2. Dairy Queen: Red Velvet Cup Cake Ad

Dairy Queen launched a television ad for Valentine’s day to capture the attention of their audience through humour. In the video, the man surprises his date with a gift in a velvet red box, and her reaction is priceless which makes the audience wonder what the present could be.

It was a spoon. To eat Dairy Queen’s Red Velvet Cup Cake with – the product they were trying to sell.

Instead of romanticizing the day itself, they romanticized the dessert and subtly poked fun of the cheesiness of the holiday. Risky videos like this are made to stir emotions and have the potential to become viral over the web. It attracts both happy couples and single individuals through the universal love language of humour.

3. Starbucks x Match.com Partnership for the Biggest Starbucks Date

While Valentine’s Day can feel like a special day for couples, it can also feel like the loneliness day of the year for single people. With the right strategy, businesses can target this audience to capitalize on mutual benefit. Starbucks and Match.com did just that and invited coffee-loving singles to the world’s largest Starbucks date in 2015.

Going out for coffee is commonly known as a way for people to connect, making Starbucks and Match.com a match made in heaven. Both companies were already very established with a large following, increasing the reach of the campaign. On February 15, 2015, Starbucks locations in Canada and U.S. facilitated the date with a special menu, a hand-chosen playlist and props for taking photos. Instead of a product, they chose to sell an experience to make customers feel loved. And who knows? It may have helped them find their future partner.